The Economic Ebb and Candidates Solutions

Musavi is offering the best solutions to solve the present economic crisis. By Saeed Leylaz.

Less then two weeks has remained to the tenth presidential election in Iran and among the criticisms pointed towards Ahmadinejad’s administration, those of economic nature have gained momentum. Saeed Leylaz, economic analyst has discussed Ahmadinejad’s economic bills and the reform plans of other candidates:

That three candidates have focused on the economic measures of the incumbent government shows that the ninth administration holds an untenable record. Unfortunately, the present government has vaunted the most and acted the least among all the post-revolution administrations.

Nowadays, we are witnessing one of the worst economic situations in Iran’s history. The profit growth is negative, the amount of imports have surpassed 90 billion dollars and unemployment rate is reaching 15%. All official statistics show that unfortunately, Ahmadinejad’s rivals are right in their claims. They reveal that industrial growth is declining towards zero, economic growth is witnessing a fall, unemployment rate is increasing and recession is spreading over all economic sections.

With the government’s 20 billion dollar budget deficit, we will undergo inflation from the second half of the year. Ahmadinejad’s administration has the poorest bill among all the governments which ruled the country after the revolution. I can say that he has the poorest record in the last 50 years, since no government has acted as inefficiently as his even before the revolution.

At least two candidates who oppose the ninth administration have clear, detailed economic plans. However, I believe that Musavi’s plans are the most operational and detailed among the presidential candidates since they propose two actual solutions: one for immediate action and the other a long-term, transformative plan.

The quick act plan includes control of import and prioritizing domestic production. During the past four years production in our country has literally diminished and lost priority. Reviving production is possible by directing resources towards producers, and not importers. In that way, unemployment can be also tamed.

The size of government must also decrease and true support should be shown for productive units in the private sector. Iran’s economy needs deregulation and encouragement of competition. This was a dream even during Khatami’s term but it has become much distant and at its worst situation with the present government. Never have we witnessed such a high level of intervention by the government in economic affairs.

Though Mehdi Karrubi and Mohsen Rezaee have also introduced detailed economic plans, Musavi’s solutions are the best since they are more compatible with the current situation and the reality of Iran’s economic growth.